Medical predicament
by artislife18
Summary: Tony hates medical. But the team knows how to handle Tony. Pre-established steve/tony


Everyone hated medical, especially after a particularly gruesome battle when all we want to do is go home and just sleep for the next two days. But no one hated it more than tony. He usually took of in his armor as soon as the battle was over and just in time for medical to arrive, he would then show up out of nowhere to the debrief. On most days the armor protected him from being injured ,but this time when the giant rage monster had whipped tony while mid air , he had lost control and fallen into the ocean. When We all heard the splash and the sudden gurgling noises through the comms we knew the iron man armor had taken a bad hit, and the water was leaking through into the armor.

"iron man! Status report ,NOW!" steve shouted his voice adding a grunt at the end as he slammed his shield effectively cutting the head off of a monster.

A lack of response was normal , during battle , the avenger in question usually would reply immediately once able. But the concern was only growing as the gurgling Sound turned to a choking sound.

"Tony? Are you okay?" steve asked his boyfriend unable to quell the rising fear. Just as steve ducked to avoid a tail swing and run towards the area Where tony had gone into the waters ,iron man came flying out at a rapid speed leaving the water glowing a fiery orange from the reflection of his thrusters.

"I need an answer , tony" steve said calmer than before as he watched iron man fly higher and then hover midway in the sky overlooking the battle scene on the ground.

"just peachy" he rasped, obvious that his voice was rough from swallowing the water. Steve nodded at him knowing that the enhanced armor would pick it up and dove right back into the battle.

It took another two hours of bashing to kill every one of them ,in the process destroying a three block radius of the city. Fury was not going to be happy.

On queue, just as the medics arrived, tony said " catch you guys later, there's a leak in the armor I need to fix" steve sighed as he watched him fly off. Normally tony would at least allow steve to see for himself that he was indeed alright.

"he took quiet the hit today" natasha said as she walked up next to me ,her own wounds were weeping blood as she wiped them off with a gauze pad. I nodded pursing my lips unsure what to say, she placed a comforting hand on my back as we were joined by the rest of the team. Three hours later , after everything and everyone were tended to , fury called for debrief.

It took all of Steve's willpower to give his boyfriend the space he needed to recuperate before the debrief. Just as the team assembled at the conference room, settling down into their chairs steve looked around at his team taking it all in, making mental notes.

Clint was nursing an ice back to his ribs and limping ever so slightly ,some butterfly bandaid holding together a cut on his left eyebrow.

Bruce was okay, there was no need for a code green, he had stayed on quintet monitoring everything from behind the scenes.

Natasha was holding her wrist close to her ,protecting it . She had sprained her left wrist and sported a gruesome bruise along her right jaw.

Thor was, well thor . He was seated comfortably eating sugary treats he had pawned off of a shield agent. That man hadn't even been scratched.

Then there was me, I had a bruise covering my jaw much like natasha, a couple of cuts here and there but another two hours and most of it would have healed completely.

Then there was tony, he came sauntering in along with fury, discussing something about the clean up crew. It looked like he had head home taken a shower ,cleaned up nicely . He looked his usual charming self under the suit he was wearing which covered most of him obstructing any view of injuries he may have sustained. He looked a little pale, his breathing raspy , which was highly suggestive of a chest infection he was already developing from his dive into the ocean. It had been about five hours since his fall , but with Tony's compromised lungs he was always at a greater risk of developing lung infections.

Tony took a seat opposite steve, next to Bruce just as Bruce shared a concerned look with steve. Debrief went longer than usual, due to the fact that we still had no idea who was behind the attack. I watched as tony slowly started hunching in on himself, he was taking carefully measured shallow breaths. As soon as the meeting was done, the first thing steve did was corner tony as the rest of team left the room, giving the two some space but not without glancing at tony with worried looks.

"you okay?" steve asked him, as he gently pulled on his elbow and brought him back to the chair he had abandoned and pushed him down into it. Tony shrugged his hands roaming up Steve's chest before hooking them around his neck and pulled him down for a kiss. Steve took this as an opportunity to let his hands roam over tony ,looking for any sign of injury. Tony stiffened ever so slightly as Steve's hand hovered around the area of his reactor. Pulling back from the kiss, steve put a hand under his chin and lifted it up , studying his face as he waited for tony to look at him.

Tony ran his hand along Steve's healing jaw bruise, and sighed "how about you? Are you okay?" he asked cocking his head to the left. Steve smiled , nodding his head yes. "a few cuts here and there , and the obvious shiner. Most of it is already gone" steve answered honestly in hope that tony would also do the same. But after a minute of waiting , and Listening to Tony's now slightly wheezing breaths it was clear steve was not going to get anything out of tony without a little prodding.

"that was an impressive swan dive you did today. Ten on ten I would say." Tony smirked pulling away from steve and resting back on the chair and steve sat down on the adjacent chair turning it towards his lover.

"didn't know I had an audience" he said pulling on his tie ,leaving it hanging loose around his neck.

"I am okay though, the armor took a hit , a minor leak in the chest plate. Jarvis is working on the fix right now." He said after steve gave him a knowing look that he was expecting an actual answer. He reached up placing the back of his hand on Tony's forehead before brushing it against his cheek feeling for a fever. His face was still pale and slightly flushed but his temperature felt normal . Tony sighed leaning into the contact closing his eyes before catching Steve's hand on his cheek and holding it there.

"trouble breathing?" Steve asked as casually as possible careful not to scare his boyfriend away from all the medical questions. He shrugged again opened his eyes and smirked , "I swallowed some water, it be like that sometimes" he said before pushing back from the chair to get up pulling steve with him. Steve rolled his eyes as he followed him out of the room.

"others okay?" tony asked as they exited the room and steve relayed everyone's injury as tony nodded cataloguing the information in his head.

Tony headed back to the tower once he had accounted for everyone on the team for himself promising to send all his resources to help with clean up while thor steve and Clint stayed back to help.

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

The actual scare came during the clean up process (who knew the clean up would be more Dangerous than the battle itself) when an unstable building came crashing down on steve and thor before they had time to escape. Steve had a concussion and a broken wrist amongst more bruising and cuts while thor escaped with relatively fewer injuries the major being a three inch cut over his temple. It took four people and a clint to get Steve's unconscious body onto the stretcher and to the hospital where Bruce was waiting for them. Bruce was usually the go to doctor for the team, it was easier to let their guard down in front of him and everyone understood that and no one questioned it until it was absolutely necessary.

Steve was awake and talking with the rest of the team settled in various spots in the hospital room before tony managed to barge in the worry showing through his disheveled hair and clothes.

"you know the enemy were the monsters and not building right?" he said as he carefully sat down on the side of Steve's bed letting his hand run through Steve's hair as steve gave a sheepish smile.

"is he okay?" tony asked Bruce his voice rougher than before , the fatigue finally showing on his face and stature. Bruce gave him a once over before answering "mild concussion, a broken wrist , some bruising. He will be brand new within the end of the week" steve blushed as tony smirked before leaning down and giving him a quick kiss on his lips. "I need to talk to fury about coordinating my SI crew for clean up .will you be okay for a few minutes?" he said waiting for steve nod but instead all he got was a pout.

"I'll be back asap, promise."

"fine, go!" steve said squeezing Tony's hand before letting go.

"don't go anywhere!" tony said leaving the room as everyone rolled there eyes. But the moment he left the concern on everyone's face was back full blast.

"he's not breathing right, he needs to be on oxygen." Bruce said and steve looked up alarmed as Bruce explained " sounded like he swallowed a lot of the ocean water, his lungs are compromised. He probably already has an infection which is why he is wheezing. He's going to wear himself out at this rate. Did he feel warm to you?" he asked steve as everyone sat more upright in their chairs with full attention.

Steve nodded yes, "definitely had a fever. He was okay when I checked earlier after the debrief."

"sounds like the infection caught on a lot faster than I thought" he said thoughtfully.

"he needs to be examined." Clint snorted at bruce, "yeah like he's gonna allow you"

"I may have an idea." Natasha said leaning back in her chair as everyone looked at her waiting.

As promised tony came back within half of an hour of waiting. He was carrying a tray of smoothies.

"I come bearing gifts!" he said trying to look more enthusiastic but it was obviously failing. He handed one out to each of them before grabbing one for himself and steve scooted over and patted the extra space on the bed for tony to join him. Steve was sat propped up on pillows and Tony carefully wedged himself between Steve's non broken arm and sat drinking his smoothie. Twenty minutes into a lighthearted conversation among the team tony started sagging into steve his head tipping onto his shoulder. Just as natasha had said. His body slowly giving in to the exhaustion. Nobody mentioned it as steve carefully took the smoothie from tony and placed it on the adjacent table and rearranged both of them so that tony's head was now laying on his chest his hand brushing through his scalp easing him into a more relaxed state. His breathing was harsh now , sounded like every breath he was taking must hurt. His skin burning to touch,His fever had definitely spiked. He gave a suppressed cough his hand covering his mouth trying to hide it.

The team spoke quietly as steve continued brushing his hair, lulling him to sleep. He fell into a restless sleep just as they ran out of random topics to discuss, because they knew talking anything important would only have tony more alert.

"is he asleep?" clint asked quietly as steve nudged tony a little to check and smiled when tony only tucked himself tighter into him.

"I think he is. Bruce?" steve asked waiting for the next move. Bruce quickly got up from his chair and felt Tony's forehead cursing softly at the heat.

"clint , tasha can you get some cool cloths? And maybe find me a thermometer.?" They nodded silently slipping out of the room. "Thor can you help us hold Tony, we need to get his suit off" thor and steve carefully and ever so gently propped tony up as Bruce carefully slid his blazer off and took of his tie leaving him in his dress shirt and suit pants. Steve quickly untucked his shirt from the hem of his pants before undoing the buttons on his shirt moving it aside to give Bruce access to listen to Tony's chest with his stethoscope.

Just as Bruce was listening to his, his face sporting a concerned frown natasha and clint came in carrying the needful. Natasha quickly got to work checking his temp and cursed in Russian " how bad is it?" steve whispered his hand running through Tony's hair again, afraid he would wake up and panic.

"103.9" clint let out a low whistle at that , and starting wiping down tonys forehead, arms and chest with the cool cloth they had bought hoping to get the fever down.

"I am going to attach some leads to him, monitor his heart . Steve he needs to be propped up a little more, it will help his breathing. Clint grab the oxygen mask." Bruce was all business, he didn't stop to see if anyone was actually doing what they were told. He grabbed supplies for an iv and set it up dragging the pole near the bed

"what's that?" steve asked, worried at how serious things had gotten in just a few minutes.

"antibiotics , saline and electrolytes. We need to get rid of this infection" he said , as he gently dabbed at Tony's hand inside his elbow with a spirited cotton. He waited a second to make sure tony was still asleep before piercing the needle through his skin. Tony whimpered , yes he actually whimpered , but he didn't wake up.

"you are okay, baby" steve whispered kissing the top of his head. It broke Steve's heart knowing when tony does wake up to all this medical equipment he was going to panic and that did nothing the quench the silent guilt creeping in.

Clint placed the oxygen mask around his face and tony scrunched his face up the discomfort obvious and everyone stilled around tony, praying he doesn't wake up. He didn't, and everyone relaxed as Bruce placed the lead of the heart monitor on various places on his chest before switching it on. The beeping was loud enough to startle thor and steve , the assassins and Bruce were expecting it though.

Everyone settled back into their chairs as Bruce quietly studied the monitors before tucking a blanket around tony and steve .

"is he going to be alright?"steve asked unable to hide fear and concern from his voice.

He nodded "yeah. He should be okay. As long as we he stays put for a while. He is going to need a lot of rest to allow his body to recuperate."

Steve sighed pulling his lover closer and holding him tight knowing once tony was awake he won't be too happy with him .

Xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx

"I just don't get it, you break your wrist and ten hours later you are good as new. How is that even fair? My teeny tiny cut is still weeping!" clint complained for the tenth time that morning . Everyone had stayed in the room steve still holding tony afraid to let him wake up alone. The only person who got some sleep was tony, he hadn't even twitched in his sleep, his fever addled body had finally given into complete exhaustion. He was still pale, his fever still as high as 102 . His fingers clenched and unclenched around Steve's hospital gown every now and then.

Steve dropped a kiss to his forehead before carefully easing out to change into the clothes natasha had brought them all from the tower this morning. His hand was mostly healed, just a little sore.

Clint and thor were on breakfast duty. They had been gone for about twenty minutes with a promise of bringing back something for the rest of them. Bruce had already woken up and showered ,it was one of the perks of being at shield medical, all facilities were always available.

"wha's gng …on?" the sudden croaky voice surprised both Steve and natasha , steve pulled his pants up quickly before turning back to his lover his hands hovering near Tony's chest.

"hey, how are you feeling?"steve asked just as Tony's eyes met his. His face scrunched up at the feeling of the mask and he tried to pull it off only to be caught off guard by the iv line he found pulling on his arm and just as he tried to rip it off steve caught his hand and intertwined their fingers.

"let's leave that in okay." Tony shook his head no "off" he said, though it sounded muffled through the mask and then his attention immediately switched over to the mask as he pulled it down and steve let him as he took the cup of water nat handed over with a small straw.

"water?" steve asked holding the cup up in front of tony and he took it with shaky hands , steve allowing him to take his time as he carefully removed the straw and drank straight from the cup most of the water dribbling down his chest.

He handed the cup back and took a minute to take in his surroundings , everything finally sinking in. The realization was sudden as tony looked up alarmed at Steve.

"why am I here?" he asked his voice still raspy but clearer, he wanted to sound pissed but he didn't have the energy. His mind was trying to work a mile a minute trying to remember what happened last night the confusion evident on his face.

"you developed a chest infection after swallowing the ocean water yesterday, do you want to sit up?"steve asked as he carded his fingers through Tony's hair. Tony frowned looking down at himself, the monitors , the dress shirt that was still hanging around his shoulders ,the IV . He cocked his head away from Steve's hand in his hair looking at natasha and then at Steve "did you drug me?!" he said as the monitors started beeping a little faster and tony ripped the leads from his chest the anger showing in his eyes.

"don't touch me" he said moving away as steve tried to reach out to him. He shifted sitting up on the bed , pulling the IV out and his feet landing on the floor. Steve threw his head back in frustration his eyes closed , taking in a deep breath he asked "where are you going?" tony didn't even look up ,he was searching for his shoes on the floor and gave up when he didn't find them and got up anyway on his bear feet buttoning up his shirt.

"the tower" he said as he started walking to the door just as clint and thor entered holding bags of food. Tony took a step back at the sudden intrusion , his breathing was getting more laboured as he started showing signs of a panic attack. A silent look from steve to natasha had all three ,clint thor and tasha leaving the room giving steve space to deal with the situation.

"why?" tony asked , betrayal and anger combined with his labored breathing came out more as a gasp. Steve approached tony slowly his hands in front of him , and carefully took hold of Tony's hand waiting to see of tony would allow it. Once he was certain tony wouldn't push him away he wrapped his hands around the genius pulling him to his chest.

"breathe with me okay? In and out. That's it , follow my breathing" coaxing tony to take deeper breaths as he pulled him back to the bed and sat them both down ,steve leaning against the headboard and tony leaning on his chest.

"hurts" tony rasped as he clawed at his shirt and steve grabbed the oxygen mask and held it onto his face as tony struggled against it. Once he relaxed he slipped strap around his neck, and undid the top few buttons on Tony's shirt all the while talking calmly and directing tony to breathe. It took a couple of minutes for him calm down, but once he did it left him exhausted his eyes half closed as he grasped at Steve's hand as tightly as possible.

"are you ready to listen?" tony nodded his head against Steve's chest and Steve kissed his head.

" you developed a pretty serious chest infection after you swallowed the water, by the time you fell asleep yesterday by my side , your fever was almost at 104 and it was obvious you were having trouble breathing. It scared the shit out of us all." Tony chuckled as steve cursed.

" I am not done." Tony frowned trying to move the oxygen mask but steve held on firmly.

"you are really sick, tony. Bruce says you are going to need some time to recover from this. So I suggest you put aside your ego and pride and allow us to take care of you. Do you understand?" he said in his best captain America voice and tony mumbled a "fine" . Only then did steve allow him to remove the mask so he could speak.

" I don't want to stay here, I can let you take care of me at the tower." He tried to sound adamant but it came out more as a request. Steve rolled his eyes, atleast he had won part of the battle.

"you can take that up with bruce." And tony pouted but steve smiled as he rearranged tony so he could kiss him on the lips.

"can we come in?the food is getting cold." Clint said poking his head through the door. Impeccable timing.

"are you up for some breakfast?" Steve asked tony

"only if there are cheeseburgers" steve smacked his face with his hands groaning as clint held up a brown paper bag with a grin "only the best ones" he said as the rest of team shuffled into the room. Bruce shaking his head in disapproval at all the equipment and IV lying around unhooked as he got to work on replacing everything back as steve held a squirming tony still. Natasha gave tony a quick kiss on his cheek and then smacked him on the head with the back of her hand.

"what the hell was that for? "tony rasped "for being the stubborn idiot that you are" she said handing out cartons of food to everyone as everyone chuckled while tony pouted .

Steve smiled to himself as tony reached for the bag with the burger knowing tony was going to be alright. His life was never going to be easy with tony , but it was definitely worth it.


End file.
